John S. Strauss: The life he leads

ABSTRACT Over a 50-year career, John S. Strauss has taken psychiatry down a remarkable number of new paths which have since turned into fields and have become grounds for new ways of understanding and treating people who suffer from mental disorders. His pioneering emphasis on studying illness over time, patients’ subjective experiences, the multiple dimensions of “outcome”, patients’ active roles in helping themselves, the importance of work, and the value of good writing and narrative are only some of the areas in which he has led the way. No less important were the methods that he used and championed: always rigorous and objective, but sensitive and appropriate to the matters of real interest and to people. A rare congruence exists between his work and his own life, which helped make possible the many gifts he gave to his friends and colleagues, and to patients.